The Sinner and the Siren
by sonicking2004
Summary: *Contains spoilers for Spirit of Justice* Trucy Wright has been accused of murder and the Wright Anything Agency faces a very bleak future. Apollo Justice has fought long and hard against the man responsible for their troubles. Just as he's about to turn things about, however, an unexpected interruption changes the course of his life forever. *Alt. end for "A Magical Turnabout"*


**The Sinner and the Siren**

As the pieces finally clicked into place, Apollo's train of logic led him to the one piece of evidence that would prove Trucy's innocence and bring Mr. Reus'...correction, Mr. Mistree's killer to justice for murder and attempting to destroy Trucy's reputation.

"Sorry, Mr. Retinz," Apollo said with a pound on the railing before him, though he was only sorry that he hadn't managed to nail this guy into the ground before he made Trucy suffer so. In the same forceful tone Apollo continued, "but I have some very conclusive proof of your guilt."

Still flipping a coin over and over with one hand and holding his hat on his head with the other, Mr. Retinz gave him yet another one of those carefree smiles that Apollo was beginning to really hate as he retorted, "Another bluff, is it? There's no way you have anything of the kind. My magic is real, no tri-..."

 **"OBJECTION!"**

…Apollo yelled before the slimeball could utter another syllable of his self-aggrandizing spiel, then he crossed his arms and gave Mr. Retinz the same smile of confidence that he's shown many a perpetrator before driving the final nail in their coffin as he said, "No. There ARE tricks and gimmicks to it, just like any other illusion."

"Wh-what?" Mr. Retinz said, and even though he kept flipping that coin and still had that smile on his face, Apollo knew even without Athena's keen hearing that he's shaken the murderous magician.

Apollo pounded his bench again and jabbed his finger at Mr. Retinz dramatically as he said, "After the murder, you switched the left and right panels of the coffin, didn't you?!"

Though he'd covered his face with his cape, the grunt of frustration and dismay Mr. Retinz involuntarily let out told Apollo that he was on the right track. "And because you did, you left behind something very unnatural for us to find." Bringing up the fingerprint data Emma Skye had gathered on the courtroom's monitors and highlighting those of Mr. Mistree which were found inside the coffin, Apollo announced, "This proves that Roger Retinz tampered with the crime scene after the murder took place!"

"The fingerprinting results?" Prosecutor Nahyuta asked, looking just as stoic ( _or bored_ Apollo thought to himself) as before.

"Just what about the fingerprints is 'unnatural'?" the judge asked looking as clueless as he sounded, though Apollo had seen him that way so often that he wasn't surprised by it anymore.

"Let's take a look at the prints the victim left inside the coffin, shall we?" Apollo said as he projected on another monitor a mock-up of the scene just before Trucy had stabbed her (rubber) sword in the coffin, the translucent image showing how Mr. Mistree would have stood inside. Highlighting where each of his fingers and thumbs would have come into contact with the inner surface, Apollo pointed out, "If the victim was facing forward in the coffin, his prints should've looked like this." Keeping the highlighted sections visible, Apollo replaced the image of Mr. Mistree with the actual fingerprint data as he continued, "However, what we found was that they were facing the opposite direction. It's quite unnatural for the prints to be facing this way, wouldn't you agree?"

Prosecutor Nahyuta said nothing for a moment as he reflected on Apollo's words. Then, when the meaning came to him, Nahyuta gripped his rosary beads and let out an involuntary grunt of frustration as the Judge asked, "It is strange, isn't it? But how did they get this way?"

"They got this way because the culprit thought the magic show had gone according to script. The culprit thought Mr. Hat would be on the left side of the coffin and that Ms. Wright would also pop up to the left of the coffin, as per the show's script. He then assumed she had thrust the sword into the hole on the left side of the coffin. That's why he put blood in the left hole when he was trying to cover up his crime. But some time after leaving the bloodstain, the culprit must've realized his mistake. He found out that, due to Bonny's mistake, Mr. Hat was to the right of the coffin, and that despite the script, Ms. Wright had thrust the sword into the hole on the right. In short, the hole with the blood in it was on the side opposite the one Trucy used."

Making eye contact with everyone in the courtroom (and boring holes into Mr. Retinz's) Apollo continued, "To make the blood's location fit the facts, he had to tamper with the evidence yet again. So he tried to cover his tracks by switching the coffin's left and right panels."

The Judge looked as though he's finally gotten a clue (and seemed rather proud of himself for having done so) as he said, "Oh! And that's how the fingerprints in the coffin ended up backwards! Because the culprit switched the two panels around, the prints ended up facing the opposite direction." His clueless expression then returned to his face as he asked, "But instead of going to all that trouble with the panels, why didn't the culprit just wipe the blood away and redo it on the other side?"

Apollo shook his head no, wondering silently if the old man retained ANY information from the many cases they deliberated together or the countless number the Judge presided over before Apollo passed the bar exam, as he explained, "I'm afraid that wouldn't have worked, Your Honor, because of a little something called 'luminol testing'."

The light bulb flickered back to life in the Judge's eyes as he said, "Ah! Right. Luminol. I almost forgot. Luminol can detect trace amounts of blood even if it's been wiped away, right?"

"That's correct," Apollo confirmed, hoping the Judge's smart pills would last longer this time, "Wiping away the blood would've only served as proof of his meddling." Apollo crossed his arms again and gave Mr. Retinz a grim smile as he asked, "How about it, Mr. Retinz? I did a pretty good job figuring out your trick, didn't I?"

The man said nothing in reply as he stood on the witness stand, holding his cape over his face and sweating buckets, but…

 **"OBJECTION!"**

…Prosecutor Nahyuta yelled and pounded his own bench, the rosary beads clutched in his fist as they bounced on it, and he retorted, "Trucy Wright could have done the same just as easily! You have no proof that it was this witness who tampered with the evidence!"

 **"OBJECTION!"**

…Apollo yelled right back at him, smiling at his brother's weak argument as he countered, "Ah, but I DO have proof."

"What?" Nahyuta asked, and Apollo could swear that he saw him sweating.

"A person who was in the magic show would never have made the mistake of putting the blood on the wrong side," Apollo explained with a confident smile, "Least of all Ms. Wright, who surely would've remembered she was on the other side."

"Oh my!" the Judge yelled in astonishment, "You're absolutely right!"

Nahyuta growled and gripped his rosary beads so hard that it looked as though his fingers were turning whiter than usual as he ground out, "Why, you impudent..."

Apollo looked him straight in the eyes, hoping to reach what may be remaining of the smiling boy he knew growing up as his beloved brother, as he said, "I'm sure you've realized by now, Prosecutor Sahdmadi, that your claim that Ms. Wright is the culprit just doesn't hold up."

 **"OBJECTION!"**

…Nahyuta yelled once more, stretching his rosary beads to their extent between his hands as he proclaimed, "Feh! You and the accused are most certainly bound for Hell!"

 **"OBJECTION!"**

…Apollo yelled back at him, staring him down determinedly and wondering what could have happened to make Nahyuta this way as he said, "Really? Ms. Wright and I?" Then, knowing he's as good as won, Apollo allowed himself a smile as he continued, "Because I'd think you're the one with a ticket there for trying to convict an innocent girl."

This appeared to be the final straw for Nahyuta as he stretched his rosary beads even further until string broke and the beads flew everywhere. Then, in a scene as amazing as any illusion Tracy has conjured and just impossible, those loose beads flew back at Nahyuta, pounding him in the face until he fell back on the floor behind him.

The Judge, looking just as astonished as Apollo felt, asked in concern, "Prosecutor Sahdmadi! Are you all right?!"

Apollo pounded his bench once again as he said, "As for the true culprit, he is someone who knew how the show was supposed to go but didn't actually see it, and someone who had a chance to tamper with the crime scene after the incident. And the only one who fits the bill is you, Roger Retinz!"

The only response the former magician could manage was a low growl before he dramatically flapped his cape across his face like some B-movie horror villain and yelled, "Gramaryeeeeee!"

"All of the secrets to your tricks have been revealed," Apollo declared with one more pound of his bench, then with a dramatic jab of his finger at the criminal he added, "And with no tricks left I'm afraid your show has been cancelled, permanently!"

After a tense moment in which Apollo Could have sworn that he heard Retinz swallow, the man finally spoke up and said, "A-All of my secrets have been revealed, you say? Don't make me laugh, boy! Mine is the true magic. There are no 'secrets' to reveal!" Mr. Retinz continued on blowing his own horn, acting as though he was responsible for the downfall of Troupe Gramarye, punctuating his statements by having a mask made to look like the face of one of the other members appear briefly in his cape before it vanished in a puff of cheap pyrotechnics, but Apollo could hear the desperation in his voice so he waited patiently for him to get it out of system. Finally, at the point when it seemed like Trucy's face would be the next to appear and be destroyed, Mr. Retinz seemed rather startled to see his own caricature, that of his Gramarye persona of Mr. Reus, appear there instead. After a couple of failed attempts to correct his mistake, Retinz started carrying on about how it wasn't his fault, how he wasn't the one victim here, before he finally deflated like an overinflated balloon.

When he pulled himself together Mr. Retinz cursed the Gramaryes once more for "wounding" him even now, to which Trucy asked him in a genuinely sympathetic voice, "Do you really hate us that much? Does your hatred run that deep? Deep enough to kill an innocent man?"

"You're damn right!" Mr. Retinz said bold as brass, once more showing off his flaming palm trick, "You have no idea what humiliations I had to suffer! Your grandfather, Magnifi Gramarye, kicked me out after I got hurt practicing my magic! He said I was too unskilled, that I would mess up on stage! He threw me out of the troupe just because he was worried about his own reputation! "Since I was but a child it was always my dream to become a great magician. But that Magnifi...! He took it all from me!"

Trucy briefly looked rather saddened by his response, and Apollo felt an urge to leave his bench to comfort her even as she steeled herself, looking Mr. Retinz in the eye and say, "But... that's no excuse...! That's no reason to do something so evil...! Magic is supposed to make people happy! Not as a means for murder!"

Apparently having reverted back to his scumbag producer persona, Retinz was now fanning himself with his dollar bill fan as he said, "What's the big deal? I just used what I had available to me, that's all."

"I get it now. That attitude towards magic...is why grandfather kicked you out," Trucy said with a brooding, thoughtful look, then she locked eyes with Retinz and said forcefully, "You... you don't deserve to call yourself a magician!"

After a moment of silence, Mr. Retinz smirked as he said, " 'Don't deserve... I don't know about that. After all, you were completely taken in by my magic, were you not? If not for that lawyer over there, you would be on your way to prison as we speak!"

Trucy looked rather deflated as she said, "You're right. I didn't see through your tricks..."

"You see? So, in the end, Troupe Gramarye was defeated by The Great Mr. Reus!" Retinz crowed, allowing himself a short laugh before continuing, "You're not fit to lecture me from on high, Trucy Wright. You don't even deserve to call yourself a magician, you naive greenhorn!"

Trucy looked as though she wanted to say something as she glared at Mr. Retinz. However, before she could come up with a retort…

 **"THAT'S ENOUGH!"**

The melodious voice that rang out around the courtroom startled Apollo and started a confused murmur to swell amongst the gallery. Following the unexpected interruption to its source, Apollo felt his breath catch in his throat as he saw the last person he would have expected, and he couldn't blame those in attendance in the gallery for their synchronous gasp of surprise. Not only was her face, even partially hidden as it was by the thin veil draped across her cheekbones, as beautiful as her voice, not only did her exotic and amazingly gorgeous gossamer dress make her rather stick out like a sore thumb in this room, but even without all of that Apollo doubted that anyone in the gallery would not recognize the Siren of the Ballad who had risen from her seat and now was towering over them all. What Apollo found to be even stranger than her being in attendance at a trial that (as far as he could tell) had nothing to do with her at all was the foreign expression that she had on her face: that of righteous anger. Apollo thought he also saw a smidge of pity in her eyes even as she appeared to glare daggers at Retinz (though Apollo told himself that was impossible as, being blind, she couldn't possibly see him) but he had a hard time picking any of that up as she said in a lower yet carrying voice, "Hello again, Mr. Reus, it's been a long time: over twelve years, if I'm not mistaken, since we last met. I must say I'm rather disappointed that you don't seem to have changed one bit since then."

"Lady, I have no clue who you are, so just butt out," Retinz said dismissively as he fanned himself again, then his fanning slowed as he focused on her more intensely and added, "Now that you mention it, however, you _do_ look kinda familiar..."

Apollo felt rather dumbfounded that Mr. Retinz didn't know who she was, though thankfully the Judge (who usually was slower than most at picking these things up) wasn't nearly as clueless this time as he said in surprise, "Miss Lamiroir! I must say you look as radiant as ever, but what on earth brings you to my courtroom today?"

"Hello, Your Honor, it's lovely to see you again too and I hope you'll forgive me for speaking out of turn. I originally came to this trial because I was concerned for Trucy and what the verdict might do to her. It seems that I need not have worried as Apollo had everything in hand as usual, and true to his namesake he was able to see that Justice was done in the end," Lamiroir explained to them, and Apollo could have sworn that she looked directly at him and smiled (again, impossible), but then she turned her baleful glare back on Retinz as she continued, "but after hearing the venomous bile Mr. Reus was spewing just now I found myself unable to hold my tongue any longer!"

"Ah, of course: The Siren of the Ballad. I thought I recognized the hand of a Gramarye in your performance of 'The Guitar's Serenade'," Retinz said with a smirk, "I'm guessing that Valant was behind that vanishing act. A shame that he's behind bars now, as that was quite the piece, but that's just what a sinner like him deserves."

"Yes, I too was surprised to learn of what Valant had done, but your sins are far worse!" Lamiroir acknowledged even as her glare doubled in intensity, "You had the talent to become a great performer, Mr. Reus, and the cancellation of your act was only temporary. Had you but listened to the voice of experience you might still be performing with the troupe today, and nothing that took place since might have happened. Instead you allowed your ambition to blind you to reason, forcing Magnifi to expel you. But even after that you still could have developed your talents on your own, become a legendary magician in your own right. However, you chose to squander that talent, waited and watched like a vulture for your moment to spring your ill-conceived revenge, and in the process took the life of a young man who's only failing was viewing you as a role model. THAT'S why you were expelled from Troupe Gramarye, Mr. Reus, THAT'S why you don't deserve to call yourself a magician: you don't have the heart!"

"Shut up!" Retinz yelled at her as he crumpled his money fan in his hand, a flare of flame turning it instantly into ash, "What do you know? What could you possibly know!?"

"I know because I was there!" Lamiroir bit back, "Back when Magnifi made the decision to cancel your act he explained to us that he wanted you to have the time to get better after your accident, that as tremendous as your talent was you needed to refine it more so that accidents like that could never happen again. Instead of accepting his constructive criticism for what it was you chose to act like a spoiled brat! By listening only to your own ego you endangered us all, and while you could have redeemed yourself for that...what you've done now, what you tried to do, for that I could never forgive you!"

Something about this lecture he was hearing struck Apollo as odd, beyond even the fact that the normally sweet and gentle Lamiroir was viciously attacking Mr. Retinz, but before he could put his finger on just what it was Retinz surprised him by jerking back in shock as he asked, "What!? Who...Just who the hell are you!?"

"You really want to know?" Lamiroir asked with a small smile, though her eyes remained as hard as ever, "Then perhaps it's time: time for an old trick to reach its long overdue climax. Time for the artist known as Lemoir to vanish from the world stage and for the reappearance of one thought to be lost over a decade ago. With that Lemoir spun in place just as a thick plume of smoke suddenly enveloped her, hiding her from view. As quickly as the smoke had appeared so too did it disperse, and the only sign that Lamiroir had ever been there was the hooded cloak that fluttered through the air down the aisle. As it floated past Apollo he was surprised to see Trucy snatch it out of the air beside him and use the sleeves to tie it on like a cape, made all the more surprising due to how he failed to see when she entered the booth next to him, standing squarely between Athena and himself. As he pondered the question he realized that this woman was not actually Trucy as she was a bit taller than her, her hair longer, her appearance more mature, and yet her resemblance was Trucy's that Apollo had to look over at the defendant's holding area where he saw her still standing there, her hand held over her mouth in shock and looking as though she might start crying at any moment.

"I must say, Apollo, it's quite a different perspective standing over on this side of the room," the woman (which Apollo recognized from her voice as Lamiroir) said aloud as she looked across the room at Prosecutor Nahyuta, who was beginning to recover from the punishment he'd unwittingly inflicted upon himself, "The powerful yet comforting sensation I'm getting is quite unlike any stage I've ever been on. I can see why you and Mr. Wright would choose this as your profession, in spite of all the abuse and punishment you guys seem to suffer along the way, as well as why Trucy would be compelled to give you a hand from time to time." Then Lamiroir turned to give him an impish smile that seemed really familiar to him. When he realized where he'd seen that face before Apollo nearly fell out of the booth and took the poster in question with him even as the Judge stammered in shock, "L-Lamiroir...? What? Why? How...?"

"What, you think that my late husband is the only one capable of performing a vanishing act in your courtroom, Your Honor?" Lamiroir responded as she turned her smile towards the Judge's podium, "And I already said that my name's no longer Lamiroir. You can address me by my true name of Thalassa: Thalassa Gramarye."

There was a beat of silence, then the courtroom exploded with the sounds of surprise, disbelief, exultation, and outright confusion. It was a sea of chaos, on in which even the hecklers brought in by Retinz were finding their voices being swept up and lost in it (those who haven't totally given up by this point, that is.) Even the rapid pounding of the Judge's gavel and his frequent cries for order were having practically no effect in calming the uproar (in fact it just made it that much noisier.) As such, Apollo was barely able to make out the sound of Trucy softly saying "Mom?" as a tear traced the left side of her face, to which Lamiroir ( _Thalassa_ , Apollo corrected himself silently) answered with a nod and a warm smile.

"No! This is impossible!" Retinz exclaimed, and as she returned her attention to the guy Apollo saw her smile melt from her face, "You're supposed to be..."

"Dead? Not quite," Thalassa finished for him, and it seemed as though the crowd took that as their cue as they all shut up rather quickly, "I was involved in an accident during practice, much like you, but my accident took my sight and my memory, not my life. Sorry to disappoint you. Because I was blind and in a country unfamiliar to me I had practically no way to recover my lost memories until the defense Apollo had mounted on the behalf of my partner Machi inspired me to face my fears of my unknown past and go through with the eye surgery to restore my sight. After my memories started to return, however, I started to notice certain things about my accident. There was something about it that seemed...unnatural. We had performed that trick so many times over the years, there's no way it should have went wrong, even with the new twist added in. Furthermore I don't believe that either Valiant or my husband Zak would have shot me on purpose, and even if either had they certainly wouldn't have went along with my father's demands from that point onwards. That seems to indicate that a third party interfering with the trick, the end result being my 'death' as well as the slow downfall of Troupe Gramarye, and after hearing about how much you still hate us, even now..."

"You believe this third party to be me?" Retinz guessed, then he chuckled humorlessly before continuing, "Sorry, but after my dismissal I wanted nothing to do with your 'family', maintaining as much distance between you guys and myself as possible, and I doubt that you would be able to prove otherwise."

"Relax, Mr. Reus, I have no intention of pressing charges against you," Thalassa told him, though Apollo doubted Mr. Retinz found her cold tone assuring in the slightest, "Even if my case wasn't as cold as the borscht served at Mr. Wright's old venue, I'm certain that the efforts my father went through to hide my accident would have destroyed any evidence of who was responsible for what happened to me. Anyway I don't need to press charges against you because after murdering your own disciple on top of all the other crimes you committed to pin the blame on my daughter, the likelihood of you ever seeing the light of day ever again is microscopically low. You'll never have another chance to hurt me or my family ever again."

Mr. Retinz made no retort beyond growling softly and glaring at her, and Apollo figured that was because he knew she was right (and that his mind games wouldn't work on her), so after his rebuttal didn't come Thalassa continued, "Also your claim that you and your 'magic' had defeated Troupe Gramarye simply because you had managed to con my daughter into signing your unfair contact, as well as making her believe that she might have accidentally killed someone in a flawed performance of her art, is itself flawed and rather empty."

"Ah, but I HAD defeated Troupe Gramarye!" Mr. Retinz argued, showing off his flames as he did so, "I proved my art was superior to hers, that she is not fit to call hers..."

"Wrong!" Thalassa interrupted him, "All you managed to prove was not your skills as a magician but rather your ability to con a girl whose guardian was a little too successful in sheltering her from the evils of the world, for which I will be having a few words with Mr. Wright about..."

 _Ouch_ , Apollo thought silently to himself, wondering if Wright felt that barb clear over in Khura'in as Thalassa continued, "...but what you failed to understand, both then and now, is that a troupe is not a single individual or even a collection of individuals: it's a family whose bonds go beyond that of blood. Even if one stumbles and falls, so long as one of us is around to pick them up to carry on we'll never be 'defeated'. So too is it here: while you managed to pull the wool over Trucy's eyes, it was yet another Gramarye who saw through all your tricks, exposing you as the fraud you are and foiling your plan to destroy Trucy and end the Gramarye line. So you see, it was actually Troupe Gramarye that defeated you."

"Oh?" Retinz asked, looking skeptical, "And I suppose this is where you reveal how you manipulated the investigation from behind the scenes or something?"

"No, the Gramarye who bested you was not I but rather my firstborn son," Thalassa corrected him with a smile.

"Your... son?" Retinz repeated, confusion and frustration showing on his face.

Thalassa nodded in confirmation as she said, "He and his partner were able to work together to uncover the secrets behind the lies you spun and disperse the weak illusions you tried to cloud their vision with. In that way I suppose that they themselves are like a troupe themselves." Thalassa then pointed at him dramatically, the makeshift cape falling from her arm as she did so, and Apollo thought he saw a hint of glitter under the cuff of her glove as she said, "The point is that you failed: you failed to understand what it means to be a part of a troupe, failed to develop your talents and make a name for yourself as a magician, and failed in every aspect of your misguided revenge scheme." Thalassa then assumed what struck Apollo as a Khura'in prayer stance as she continued, "Now while the Holy Mother will surely punish you in the Twilight Realm for your sins against my daughter and your apprentice by having you burn in the flames of your own creation for about 200 years..." Thalassa paused to look up across the room and ask, "...that about right, Prosecutor?"

Nahyuta, who seemed to be recovering from his self-inflicted punishment, looked somewhat surprised as he responded, "Yes, that sounds rather accurate."

"But the punishment that you inflicted upon yourself, which you'll have to endure for the rest of your days and beyond, is in a way just as fitting," Thalassa continued with a glare at Mr. Retinz, "If anyone remembers you in the future it will be as a failure and a miserable excuse of a man who can never win at anything. That will be your punishment in this life, and one which you will never be able to escape. Face it, Mr. Reus, you lose!"

 _This is sounding very familiar_ , Apollo thought to himself, _Didn't Mr. Wright have a case like this sometime before losing his badge?_ His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Trucy call over to him in a soft yet carrying voice saying, "Hey Polly? Doesn't Mom's bracelet look kinda like yours?" Looking again, Apollo realized that the gleam he had spotted was in fact a bracelet, and it didn't just look "kinda like" his: they were _exactly identical_! He quickly glanced down at his own wrist, thinking that Thalassa had pulled some slight of hand vanishing act similar to her daughter's Magic Panties act, but he was confused when he found that it was still there. Then he recalled what she had said earlier, about how her son and his partner were the ones who defeated Mr. Retinz, and Apollo nearly fell out off the bench one more as the meaning of the matching bracelets came to him.

Before Apollo could come to grips with this new revelation Mr. Retinz snarled and made flames appear in both of his palms as he said, " _I'm_ going to burn? _Me_ a failure? No, the one who will be engulfed is _you_ , Thalassa! You, your daughter, your son, this courthouse, my cell: my flames will reduce them all to ash!"

The Judge pounded his gavel loudly a few times before bellowing, "Bailiff! Get this man out of here right now, and bring a fire extinguisher!" The bailiff did as instructed, and as they dragged him out the doors with Nahyuta following behind, Apollo heard Mr. Retinz cry out in a fanatical voice, "Troupe Gramarye will be wiped from the pages of history, and the name of Mr. Reus will be synonymous with magic for all time!"

As the courtroom doors closed behind them the gallery started murmuring in stunned voices, and Apollo couldn't blame them. He wasn't sure how long it was before Nahyuta returned, but when he did the crowd fell silent as the Judge asked, "So what of Mr. Retinz... or Mr. Reus...or, uh...?"

Nahyuta, who seemed to have regained his composure, nodded serenely as he said, "The records for his arrest are being processed as we speak, and all of his pyrotechnic paraphernalia was confiscated, so he won't be pulling any vanishing acts acts anytime soon. Still, he had put up no resistance as the full body search was performed on him, simply kept rambling on about how he'll exact his revenge on Troupe Gramarye. I believe that planning to, as I think it's put here in your country, 'cop a plea of insanity' as his defense."

"Yes, quite a frightening individual, that one," the Judge commented with a nod, "My head is still spinning after everything that we learned here today."

 _You and me both, Your Honor_ , Apollo thought to himself as the Judge continued, "I feel as though I have been watching a grand magic show and a dramatic Japanese stage play all at once. Oh yeah, that's right! Apollo...Gramarye, was it?"

"It's still 'Justice', Your Honor," Apollo groaned as he complained silently to himself, _Great, as if it wasn't hard enough to get him to remember my name before._

"Justice, of course," the Judge confirmed with a nod, "It's scary to think about how close we came to not seeing it here today. Still, it's amazing how you had seen through all the tricks and illusions Mr. Reus had thrown your way. You truly are a talented magician, Mr. Justice."

"Defense attorney, Your Honor," Apollo corrected him with a groan.

The Judge nodded his understanding (which Apollo doubted) before refocusing his attention and saying, "Miss Gramarye?"

"Yes?" Trucy and her mom respond almost simultaneously.

"Thalassa," the Judge amended, "As delighted as I am to see you again, I feel like I should inform you that outbursts like yours are generally not permitted in the courtroom and have the potential for landing you with a fine and/or jail time for being in contempt of court."

 _Since_ _ **when!?**_ Apollo silently protested, thinking about all the things this Judge had allowed to happen here without so much as a warning (whips and swords, attacking birds of prey, flying wigs and coffee mugs, etc.) but the Judge seemed heedless of Apollo's reaction as he continued, "However, being both a father and a grandfather, I can sympathize with your feeling the need to get parental when you had. Therefore I'll let you off this time with just a gentle warning."

"You're too kind, Your Honor," Thalassa said with a smile and a graceful bow of her head, "Thank you for your understanding."

Apollo let out a breath then that he hadn't realized that he had been holding. When he looked over at Trucy, however, he was surprised to find her still looking so down. Apollo had half expected to see her looking rather antsy and impatient to be released so she can properly have the reunion with her mother that she had been separated from for forever, and instead she looked as though she'd been told that her show had been canceled indefinitely.

"Uh, Ms. Wright?" the Judge called out, and Apollo heard the same concern in his voice that he saw in his eyes.

"Yes, Your Honor?" Trucy asked as she looked up, still appearing depressed.

"I'm about to announce my verdict," the Judge told her, "Could I see that wonderful smile of yours - that smile of a true entertainer - as I do?"

After a moment of hesitation the smile Apollo had seen a thousand times lit up Trucy's face (although, perhaps because he had known her for so long, Apollo thought that it didn't extend to her eyes) as she said, "Yes, Your Honor!"

The Judge was apparently satisfied, however, as he nodded and said, "Now, then. This court finds the defendant, Trucy Wright..."

 **"NOT GUILTY!"**

The courtroom then exploded in cheers with no dissenting voices to be heard (the jeerers probably realized that they weren't going to be paid anymore and so lost heart to keep up the act.) Athena looked as happy as a clam. Thalassa hugged him across the shoulders (which Apollo felt awkward about.) Nahyuta remained as unreadable as he was at the start of the trial. And Trucy kept her entertainer's smile dutifully plastered to her face.

With a final pound of his gavel, the Judge announced, "Court is adjourned!"

* * *

 **April 28**

 **District Court - Defendant Lobby No. 3**

As he half expected, the moment the bailiffs had brought Trucy into the room and officially released her from their custody she had ran over to her mom, clinging to her side and soaking Thalassa's outfit with her tears while her mom rubbed her head and murmured words of comfort for several minutes.

"It's all right, my dear. It's okay," Thalassa assured her soothingly, "It's all over now, you have nothing to worry about anymore."

"I know, Mom, I know," Trucy said as she dried her eyes on the gossamer hooded cloak Thalassa was still wearing as a cape, "It's just...I missed you so much!"

"I missed you as well, my dear Trucy, more than I can possibly explain," Thalassa said fondly as she hugged Trucy.

"To think that you were Lamiroir all this time," Trucy said as she chuckled self-deprecatingly, "We had met face to face so often a year ago, and yet I didn't recognize you at all. I'm pathetic."

"No, you're not!" Thalassa said in a gentle yet firm tone, "It had been several years since you last saw me, and I was dressed so radically different from how I did back then, so you couldn't possibly be expected to recognize me. Besides, you at least had memories of how I was back then: I didn't even have that, what with my memories beginning in darkness and all. Also, while I may have been blind I still had excellent hearing and I never forget a voice. However, in all of our interactions I failed to recognize yours. If you are pathetic then what does that make me?"

Trucy looked ashamed of herself as she said, "Oh! When you put it that way... sorry, Mom."

"Your mom's right, Trucy," Apollo chimed in, "Your name has been cleared, our office is ours once again, and the guy responsible is now behind bars where he belongs. Everything is right once again, so stop acting so gloomy and enjoy it, okay?"

"It's because you never stopped believing in and fighting for me," Trucy responded with a grateful smile on her face, "Thank you for everything, Polly. Oh, that's right! We're related, aren't we, so maybe I should start calling you 'Big Bro'?"

"Actually you can continue calling me 'Polly', Trucy," Apollo told her. He still didn't care too much for the nickname Trucy had come up for him, but by now he'd grown used to it and he felt like he wouldn't be too comfortable just yet with the alternative.

A moment later Athena entered the room, having been up until then been busy with the paperwork securing Trucy's release and nullifying Retinz's illegal contract, ensuring that they could return to their office without consequences. Athena immediately went over to Trucy and gave her a warm hug, and Apollo was surprised to see tears in Athena's eyes as she said, "Oh, Trucy! Grazie a Dio! Now you can open your show tomorrow - just as planned!"

Trucy returned Athena's smile with one of her own as she said gratefully,"Yup! And it's all thanks to you two!" Trucy then got a thoughtful look on her face as she added, "...Oh...but now that Mr. Reus is gone I'll need to find somebody to replace him."

Apollo felt a shiver go up his spine as Trucy turned her expectant gaze upon him. Fortunately he was spared having to turn her down (which she always managed to tear down and 'convince' him to join her on stage anyway) when Thalassa spoke up and offered, "Well, my dear, I can possibly help you out there."

"What, really!?" Trucy asked excitedly, practically glowing with the prospect of performing alongside her mom.

"Your show's theme is based on Alice in Wonderland, right?" Thalassa confirmed, "Well I always wanted to play the role of the Red Queen since I was a child."

"That would be great!" Trucy agreed readily and eagerly, bouncing on the balls of her feet, "It wouldn't take much to work that role into the script."

"Of course I might be a little rusty, having been doing nothing but singing the last several years back when I was Lamiroir," Thalassa informed her, uncertainty showing in her voice, "I'm afraid that I came awfully close to botching the trick back in the courtroom earlier."

"Don't worry, I'll help you!" Trucy said with a wide smile as she clasped her hands around her mom's, "You'll be great, you'll see."

Apollo heard a soft sound behind Athena, and when he craned his neck over he was surprised to see Bonny and Betty de Femme near the door, literally twin expressions of remorse. Bonny shyly cleared her throat, and when Trucy turned to look Bonny hesitantly said, "Trucy...I'm so sorry about everything..."

This seemed to rub Betty the wrong way for some reason as she started ramming into Bonny's shoulder with her own and saying irritably, "Hey! What are you apologizing for!? Roger Retinz used us! We're victims too! He even made me an accomplice to murder!"

Bonny refused to cave in to the pressure of her overbearing twin as she turned her gaze in the opposite direction and continues in the same apologetic tone, "But, Betty, we have to take some of the blame for this too, you know. Even if we didn't know he was planning to kill Mr. Mistree, we did cooperate with him."

That appeared to take the fight of of Betty as she looked remorseful once more as she said, "...It's...It's all my fault, isn't it?"

"Neither one of you is to blame!" Trucy told them determinedly, "The only one in the wrong is the person who used magic to commit murder, Roger Retinz!"

Trucy's words of reassurance appeared to cheer up the twins as Bonny smiled and Betty got a fierce look on her face, pounding her cane/umbrella into her palm and saying, "...Humph! Don't you think I know that!? Say what you want, but don't think for a second that...that I don't still hate you."

The way that Betty that she hesitated before she made that last statement, looking away as if she was embarrassed or ashamed, made it obvious to Apollo even without using his powers of perception that she was lying about that. However, it appeared that Trucy didn't notice this as she said almost to herself, "I - I guess she really does hate me..."

"But, Betty, why?" Bonny asked thoughtfully as she twirled her own cane around her finger, "You used to be a huge fan of Trucy's."

"H-Hey! Sh-shut up!" Betty stammered as she bumped shoulders with Bonny again, causing Bonny's cane to fly off her finger and bonk her atop her head, "I've always hated her!"

"Really?" Bonny asked as she picked her cane back up and resumed twirling it before her, "But if we hadn't seen Trucy's magic show we never would've tried to become professional magicians ourselves, right?"

"S-Speak for yourself!" Betty retorted as she maintained her her angry and hateful expression, though there was no fooling Apollo's eyes (and he imagined Athena was picking up as much with her ears.)

"But, Betty, you still have her autograph from that day -" Bonny started to say before Betty interrupted her with another shoulder bump and cried out in what was clearly irritation born of panicked embarrassment, "GRAAAGH! Just shut up!"

By this point it seemed to Apollo that the reason Betty was acting this way was not because she _hated_ Trucy but rather because she actually _loved_ her but was simply too embarrassed to show it. Thalassa apparently noticed something as well as she got a shrewd smile on her face as she said, "Ah, I think I see now! Bonny, I do believe that your sister is acting the way she is because she is what the Japanese would call a _tsundere_."

Betty and Bonny were both surprised by this comment, with Bonny being the first to find her voice as she asked, "Huh? What's a 'soon-dare-re'?"

" _Tsundere_ ," Thalassa clarified, "That's one of a number of different character types often found in Japanese media like manga and anime. A _tsundere_ character may at first glance appear to have a harsh personality that can be anything from cold and apparently emotionless to openly hostile and violent towards those around them. However, that projected attitude is often a false front, a shield that they use to keep themselves from behind vulnerable or getting hurt. In many cases the _tsundere_ will act more extremely towards someone who they have come to care about, whether as a friend, role model, or even a romantic partner, in order to avoid lowering that shield and admitting how they truly feel."

"Wait, are you saying that...!?" Bonny asked in surprise.

"Your sister really _does_ love my daughter, " Thalassa explained to her with a smile, "Why exactly it is that she feels like she has to hide these feelings is something only she can tell us, but it's clear to me that's exactly what she's doing with these declarations of hatred towards Trucy."

"Whoah! Really?" Trucy asked in surprise.

"I thought I was hearing some emotional discord in there!" Athena said with a huge grin.

"I knew it!" Bonny exclaimed with a smile, looking for all the world like she wanted to give her sister a big hug, "I knew that you still liked...!"

"No, y-y-you're wrong!" Betty barked loudly, her face flushed red with either anger or embarrassment as she tightly clutched her cane with both hands and looked as though she was about ready to snap it in half, "I'm n-n-not this 'soon-dura-whatchamacallit' and I'm not trying to hide anything! I really do hate Trucy!"

Towards the end of Betty's outburst Apollo felt a huge twinge from his bracelet and, from the corner of his eye, he saw Thalassa grip hers at the same time. A knowing smile on her face, Thalassa informed her gently, "You should know that both Trucy and especially Apollo had gotten their exceptional eyesight from me, just as I had inherited it from my father, the Great Magnifi. I know that you saw how easily they are able to see through lies and uncover the truth, so trying to mislead me with such a weak..."

"I'm telling you that you're wrong!" Betty insisted, the corners of her eyes sparkling with the tears (likely of embarrassment) she was holding back, "You don't know anything about me!"

Normally this would be the point where Apollo would present the evidence that proves what they're trying to hide (in this case it would be the autograph of Trucy's Bonny mentioned,) but the expression on Betty's face made him feel guilty for even thinking it. Thalassa appeared to consider for a moment before crossing her arms and asking, "Well if you're not here to apologize for the 'practical joke' you had cooperated with Mr. Reus to pull on my daughter, to try and make up for unwittingly help him commit murder and frame Trucy for it, then why did you come here?"

"Well, umm...you see...actually, that is..." Betty stammered, stumbling over her own words as she (at least as far as Apollo could tell) scrambled for an excuse, then she thumped her fist like a gavel into her open palm as she exclaimed, "Oh yeah, that's right! I came here to see you, Ms. Gramarye!"

"Me?" Thalassa asked, apparently surprised by the excuse Betty used even though she had clearly been expecting one from her.

"Of course!" Betty confirmed, sounding a bit more confident in her response, "You're Thalassa Gramarye, the last remaining member of the original Troupe Gramarye who's not in jail or dead. My sister and I saw you guys perform when we were kids and absolutely fell in love with magic, although it wasn't until we attended one of Trucy's shows that we believed that it was possible for someone our age to perform such amazing feats. It was for that reason that we signed on to perform with Mr. Reus, or rather who we thought was Mr. Reus, as well as why I... why Bonny wanted to perform in Trucy's show. However, while Trucy may have inherited the rights to perform the secret arts of Troupe Gramarye, you yourself have the experience of actually doing so. That's why I was hoping that you might take us on as your apprentices."

"You, you want me...to teach you?" Thalassa asked, sounding somewhat stunned by Betty's request.

"We overheard you mentioning that you were kinda rusty when it comes to actually performing, and I know that we wouldn't be able to do anything that Trucy has exclusive rights to should we go our separate ways in the future," Betty explained, "but I'm sure that you still have some things that you could teach us: some tricks and techniques that aren't exclusive to the Troupe Gramarye repertoire, and we'd love to learn from a master. I know that we messed up by letting Mr. Reus play us the way he had, but would you please consider letting us learn from you?"

Thalassa got a thoughtful look on her face for a moment before she said, "Well, I may not be quite the illusionist I used to be, but I suppose there's a few things I could probably show you."

"What, really!?" Bonny asked excitedly as Betty kept her focus on the cane she was twirling around her finger in what Apollo guessed was an effort to conceal her emotions. Of course Apollo had read his share of magna (which Athena often complained about his keeping issues of them in the office during her futile efforts to clean it) so he was well familiar with the tsundere character type, and now that Thalassa had pointed it out he could tell just how much Betty fit that mold.

"Of course you girls would have to train alongside Trucy," Thalassa advised them as she raised her finger for attention, "I have a good many years of catching up to do with her, so I don't have much time for one-on-one lessons, nor do I want to have to separate you girls because you aren't getting along with each other."

"You...you want to train...me?" Trucy asked looking rather stunned, although Apollo couldn't tell exactly how Trucy was taking this and, for once, he found himself wishing that he had Athena's ears for such a thing.

"Of course I would love to, dear," Thalassa assured her, "I know that you have come a long way since we were last together as a family, and the Gramarye Notebook was no doubt a big help in that regard. However, there are some things that my father, your grandfather, would probably have difficulty putting down in writing as those tricks involved utilizing the gift we share. In addition there are some tricks I came up with myself, some of them shortly before my accident, which Dad wouldn't know enough about to put in there. I would understand if you feel like you've already learned more than I could possibly teach you, if I may be a little too out of practice to instill confidence in my ability to do so. I just...I feel like I had missed so much of your life, and at this point this is pretty much the only thing that I can do for you, but if you'd rather not..."

"Are you kidding!?" Trucy exclaimed, then she smiled hugely and hugged her mother as she continued, "Of course I'd love you to! Nothing would make me happier!"

"I'm glad to hear that," Thalassa said with her own smile, stroking Trucy's hair, then she turned her gaze towards the twins and asked, "And what about you guys?"

"Of course, Ms. Gramarye," Bonny agreed with a friendly smile, "I'd be glad to work with Trucy some more."

Betty had her arms crossed in a sulky expression, but even though she had her face turned away from them all the flush Apollo saw there revealed her true feelings to him as she mumbled, "I suppose that I could tolerate it for a bit." Then she pointed directly at Thalassa and said fiercely, "But I will be the best pupil you could hope to find, just you wait, so much so that you'll end up forgetting that I'm not your daughter as well."

"Sounds good, Thalassa said with a smile then she raised her finger again and added, "One more thing, though. If I take you guys on as apprentices you'll have to do everything that I say."

Bonny gave Thalassa a huge smile as she cheerfully agreed, "Absolutely, Ms. Gram-..."

"And I mean _everything_ ," Thalassa interrupted in a firm, parental tone, "That means that if I feel like you are not ready to perform a certain trick, then you'll have to agree to abide by my decision until I say otherwise. If that's too much for you then I won't be able to teach you: we don't need another Mr. Reus in our troupe, after all."

"What!?" Betty exploded, looking pissed, "There's no way I'll end up like that stuck-up, has-been, jerk-faced jerk!"

Thalassa said nothing, merely raising her eyebrow in response. After a moment of uncomfortable silence Betty's face fell as she looked down and away again and said in a more subdued voice, "Sorry, Ms. Gramarye, I'll do as you say."

"Please understand that I'm not trying to be mean here, nor do I feel like I'm being unreasonable," Thalassa explained in a gentler tone, "I've said this before, but I meant it when I said that a troupe is like a family, and as I happen to to care for my family the last thing I want is to see any of you getting hurt trying to do something you're not ready for. Also, I will not be showing any favoritism towards Trucy just because she's my daughter. In fact I plan on being just as tough on her (if not more so) as you girls as, even with her gift, some of what I have to pass on can be rather dangerous if performed incorrectly."

"I understand, and I thank you for doing this, Ms. Gramarye," Bonny said with a grateful nod of her head, "We both do."

"Y-yeah, thanks," Betty mumbled, then she grabbed ahold of Bonny's arm and said in a louder and more confident voice, "C'mon, Bonny! We're leaving! We have to get ready for tomorrow's show!"

Bonny giggled in delight at this as she smiled and said, "You're really excited about performing with Trucy again, aren't you?"

This causes Betty's face to flush a deep crimson, and she quickly turns and drags Bonny out the door as she growls, "Th-That's not true! So zip it, dummy!"

Once they were out of sight Trucy got a pensive look on her face, and Apollo didn't have long to wonder about what was bothering her before she opened her mouth and asked meekly, "Polly? Do you think I really am...a 'naive greenhorn'...?"

"Huh?" Apollo said aloud as he thought, _Don't tell me that she's taking what Retinz said to heart!?_

As if she had been reading his thoughts Thalassa turned Trucy around placed her hands on Trucy's shoulders, making her make eye contact as she said, "Absolutely not, Trucy! You shouldn't take anything Mr. Reus said too seriously. Don't let him make you lose confidence in who you are!"

"But you're my mom, Mom, you're supposed to say stuff like that," Trucy gently argued, and Apollo wondered if she was just being nice or if she had just been too much in shock over the unexpected appearance of her mother in court to notice how some of the things she said there could have been interpreted in the same way, "But Polly has been upfront with me since I've known him, and I'd like to hear from him what he thinks."

"To be honest, Ms. Gramarye had read my mind," Apollo told her, "Retinz was simply bitter about the state of his life, which he himself was responsible for but he refused to admit it, so he took it out on you. You shouldn't take what he said too seriously."

"But how can I not?" Trucy argued glumly, "I, unlike you, didn't see through his tricks and I let myself be taken in by his magic. You're far more deserving of the Gramarye name than me. I...I can't trust myself anymore. Maybe he was right to call me a greenhorn..."

"That's nonsense," Apollo countered in a firm tone, "He doesn't even know the first thing about you."

"Huh?" Trucy said, apparently caught off guard by Apollo's response.

"I'm just a lawyer, it's part of my job to see through whatever deceptions and falsehoods witnesses use to hide the truth," Apollo explained with a comforting smile, "You, on the other hand, are a wonderful Gramarye magician. You should be proud of yourself."

"Thank you, Apollo," Trucy said with gratitude in her eyes, "But what makes you say that?"

"You wanna know?" Apollo asked as he searched through his evidence satchel. Then, with a flourish...

 **"TAKE THAT!"**

"My grandfather's notebook?" Trucy asked, surprised.

Apollo nodded as he placed the Gramarye Notebook in her hands, explaining, "The Gramarye creed: 'A true entertainer always keeps a smile on their face.' When you performed your magic trick in court today, you showed the world your dedication to your troupe's creed."

"Exactly," Thalassa agreed with a proud smile, "With all the jeering going on most other people would have bowed their heads under the weight, and with everything you had to bear on top of that nobody would have blamed you for doing the same. Instead you kept your head high and a smile on your face, and in so doing you won the crowd over. I'm so proud of you."

"Me too," Apollo agreed, noting how stunned Trucy looked at their praise, "You are everything Magnifi could've hoped for in an heir. You're a great magician, Trucy."

"A great magician? Me?" Trucy asked him.

Apollo rolled his eyes at her response, his smile still on his face as he said, "Of course, you idiot! That's why you don't have to worry about a damn thing Retinz said."

Trucy looked like she was about to start crying again as she said, "Oh, Polly...thank you! Still, I couldn't have done it without you. I would've lost my nerve if I've been alone up there, but I was able to keep on smiling, and it's all thanks to you."

"Me?" Apollo asked, not sure what she was referring to.

"I remembered what you what you said to me in the detention center," Trucy clarified, which reminded him of the conversation she had when she had begun to doubt whether or not she had been responsible for the 'accident' that had claimed Mr. Mystree's life. After confirming that she had indeed swapped the steel sword for a rubber one before thrusting the fake into the coffin, Apollo assured Trucy that she wasn't at fault for Mr. Mystree's death. He told her that he believed in her and her skill as a professional magician, that he would prove her innocence and she would be fine. "Your words were what kept me going," Trucy continued with a genuine smile that Apollo felt outshone any she had shown on stage, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Now I can be everything I was meant to be!"

Apollo had been so focused on Trucy, grateful that he was able to return her real smile to her face, that he hadn't noticed that Detective Skye had entered the room until she cleared her throat and hesitantly said, "Um..."

"Ema?" Apollo asking, confused as to why she was here looking so depressed considering how Trucy was cleared of the charges against her.

Ema seemed unable to look directly at any of them as she said, "I'm really sorry, Trucy...for everything..."

"But why?" Trucy asked, looking rather confused herself.

"Well, I wasn't able to convince Prosecutor Sahdmadhi what a good person you are," Ema told her with her hand resting in her bag of Snackoos, apparently too depressed to even snack on them as she usually does when she gets in a funk, "and I had to testify against you too."

"You have nothing to apologize for!" Trucy assured her with a smile, "You were just doing your job!"

"You're too kind!" Emma said, surprised.

"Not at all, Detective Skye," Thalassa chimed in, "You had to present the facts as you had uncovered them with bias. However, because you were so thorough in your investigation my son Apollo had the evidence he needed to prove Trucy's innocence. My family owes much to your skills as a forensic scientist, and for that we could never thank you enough!"

"You're quite welcome, Ms. Gram-..." Ema started to say gratefully before she stopped unexpectedly and exclaimed in surprise, "Oh!"

"Is something wrong, Ema?" Trucy asked her as Apollo followed Ema's gaze to find that, apparently unobserved by the rest of them, Nahyuta had entered the room as silent as a wraith.

"Prosecutor Sahdmadhi?" Apollo asked, rather dazed and confused, "What are you doing here?"

His brother didn't even look his way or otherwise acknowledge that he heard him, instead keeping his gaze fixed on Ema as he said, "...Detective Skye."

"Y-yes?" Ema stammered, possibly fearing some sort of repercussions for failing to help him prove Trucy guilty. However, Nahyuta looked as serene as he had at the start of the trial as he said, "I require your forensic expertise in order to close this case. Come, let us go." Nahyuta then turned to go, clearly expecting Ema to obediently follow.

"W-wait! Prosecutor Sahdmadhi!" Apollo called out before Nahyuta could get out the door, causing him to turn around. It might have been years since they had seen one another, and Apollo was rather clueless about what caused such a change in his brother (whom he remembered most often having a smile), but they had been though too much together for Apollo to put up with his putting up with Nahyuta ignoring him now.

"The trial is over, Mr. Justice," Nahyuta said with an emotionless calm that got under Apollo's skin, "You and I are strangers once more, with no further need to interact."

"Strangers...?" Apollo asked in disbelief, "Have you really...forgotten all about me?"

"What!?" Athena exclaimed in surprise. Nahyuta said nothing, and after a moment of fruitless waiting Apollo said, "...you've changed, Nahyuta. Telling me to "let it go" and stuff."

Nahyuta was silent for a moment longer before he said, "Oh lawyer of impure soul, I have nothing to say to the likes of you. You had gotten lucky here today, you should just count your blessings and move on."

"Exactly," Nahyuta said with a nod, "If Ms. Gramarye had not interceded when she had..."

"...then my daughter would have gotten her 'Not Guilty' verdict that much sooner," Thalassa interrupted.

"What?" Nahyuta said, turning his focus on Thalassa.

"Apollo had already proven Trucy's innocence long before I spoke out of turn, and he did so with evidence," Thalassa explained, "If anything I was lucky that the Judge happened to be in a charitable mood, as my impulsive act could have possibly messed things up for Trucy as well as myself."

"Indeed, and doubly so that this case did not take place back home in Kuhra'in, as under the DC Act you would be sharing your daughter's fate," Nahyuta stated.

"Again, just what happened to you, Nahyuta?" Apollo asked him again, shaking his head in disbelief, "You weren't like this back when were kids."

"Do yourself a favor, Mr. Justice, and never show your face in a courtroom before me again," Nahyuta told him with a hard stare, "for next time I will destroy you, and if that court happens to be back home then the consequences will be grave indeed."

"Nahyuta..." Apollo said wistfully.

"...Now, if you'll excuse me..." Nahyuta said dismissively as he turned towards the door, then he paused for a moment before saying, "And Apollo? I meant what I said about counting your blessings. You have a second chance to be with your mother, so don't take your time with her for granted."

Apollo didn't know what to say to that, so he simply nodded. Nahyuta then called out to Ema, "...Detective Skye?"

"Of course, Prosecutor Sahdmadhi," Ema acknowledged with a nod. As Nahyuta exited the room, Ema lowered her voice to a whisper and said, "I'll see you guys later. Break a leg tomorrow, Trucy!" Then she turned and hurried after Nahyuta, closing the door behind her, leaving Apollo with his thoughts in turmoil.

"What was that all about, Apollo!?" Athena demanded, "How do you know Prosecutor Sahdmadhi?"

"...Let's just say that we're old acquaintances," Apollo finally answered her.

" 'Acquaintances"? It seemed like something more than that, 'since we were kids' and all," Trucy interjected.

"...Um, well..." Apollo floundered, feeling uncomfortable under Trucy's probing gaze.

"You don't like to talk about your past, do you?" Trucy said with her fists resting on her hips, "Because you always change the subject."

"...I, uh..." Apollo stammered, but he was spared needing to come up with a response when he heard Thalassa say, "That's enough, Trucy."

"Mom?" Trucy said, confused.

"Everyone has parts of their past that they won't discuss with just anyone, and even with friends and family in some instances, and considering where Apollo likely grew up I certainly don't blame him," Thalassa gently admonished her.

"Do you know where that is, Ms. Gramarye?" Athena asked her.

"I can offer a rough guess, but I won't," Thalassa answered her, "If and when he's ready to talk about that part of his life with you guys he will. Do you understand Trucy, miss Athena?"

"I understand, Ms. Gramarye," Athena acknowledged with a nod.

"Okay, Mom," Trucy agreed, then she turned her apologetic gaze towards Apollo and said, "Sorry, Polly."

"That's all right. I know your heart was in the right place, so don't worry about it," Apollo assured her, then he turned to Thalassa and said, "Thank you, Ms. Gramare, I appreciate it."

"Aww, Apollo, don't be like that," Athena called over to him, "You can go ahead and call her 'Mom'. I promise to not give you a hard time about it."

Truth was that Apollo had that thought cross his mind once or twice ever since he had found out back in the courtroom. However, that thought had been accompanied by a painful pit in his stomach, one which he finally had been able to identify when Nahyuta's visit reminded him of the talks they had when they were young, as well as how the dreams of their youth turned out to be so different from the more recent reality.

Apparently Trucy had picked up on his unease, for she asked, "Polly? What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Apollo shook his head to clear his head of the cobwebs forming in it, then he gave her his best assuring smile as he said, "It's...It's nothing. I'm fine, Trucy, don't worry."

Trucy didn't appear convinced, looking at him with concern. Thalassa looked worried about him as well, telling him with a gentle voice, "Trucy and I have the same eyes as you, remember Apollo? We can tell that something's bothering you."

 _Great_ , Apollo thought to himself, _of all the mothers out there, I had to end up with the one I'm utterly unable to lie to._ Thalassa then gave him a sweet smile as she added, "If it's something that you feel like you can't share with us right now that's fine. I will try to not pry, and you can tell us when you're ready. The important thing is that you should remember that we're family, so don't ever be afraid to say what's on your mind. We'll listen and help you get though it, okay?"

"That's what Dur-...what the guy who raised me used to tell me too. Even after he eventually told me that my birth father had died in the fire that was set to Queen Amara's residence, even then he treated me as much his son as the one who actually was his flesh and blood," Apollo found himself saying after a moment's pause, and once he started he couldn't stop, "Apparently he didn't know my dad's real name, however, and nobody knew what happened with my mom...that is to say, what happened to you. However, my dad did say that your voice was as beautiful as you were, and I always felt that if we ever met that we would feel a connection between us. I believed that, on some level, we would know each other."

"I...I see," Thalassa said, looking even more valuable than she had shortly after her 'manager's' death, back when she was known only as Lamiroir, "And did you? Feel a connection, I mean."

"I thought I had," Apollo told her with a heavy voice, "Back during the Gavinners concert, when I first heard your voice, I felt something: something that was quite unlike anything I felt around anyone else. If I had time to think about it back then, if the events that transpired since that meeting hadn't happened the way they had, then I might have believed that it was the connection I was looking for. However, they did happen that way, and it soon became apparent what I felt was one sided. It wasn't the connection I was looking for, just a young man's reaction to a beautiful voice."

"I don't understand," Thalassa said, "I do feel a connection with you, Apollo."

"Maybe you do now," Apollo replied, "but you didn't, not back then."

"What do you mean, Polly?" Trucy asked him.

"I mean that she could have asked me practically anything (save for the details of the murder, which I'm sure you'll remember that we were under orders to not divulge) and I would have answered her truthfully because I felt like I could trust her despite having just met her," Apollo answered Trucy, then he focused on Thalassa once more as he said, "But you didn't trust me. You lied to me, not once but multiple times. I know you had no memory of who you were or anything that happened before you lost your sight, that you were under contract to pretend like Machi was the blind one. I am also aware that you had lied to try and protect Machi when he was accused of LeTousse's murder, but you could have instead been upfront with me and trusted me to prove him innocent the right way: by uncovering the truth. But you didn't because you didn't trust me, and that more than anything tells me that the deep, unconscious bond between a mother and her son is nothing more than the stuff of fairy tales."

"I...suppose you're right," Thalassa said with a sigh, her voice heavy and her eyes sparkling with tears, "It wasn't you in particular that I didn't trust, however, but more like I didn't trust anyone back in those days, not even myself. No one except Machi, that is, as he was both my guide and my lifeline in the darkness that was pretty much my life. I know that this may sound somewhat like an excuse, but back before my accident I might have been a little too overdependent on my gift, using it practically all the time. Even though I didn't remember anything about my past after the accident, including the fact that I had a gift, that didn't stop me from feeling the tension of those around me. I didn't understand what it was I was feeling or why my bracelet would sometimes feel tighter on my wrist: first time it happened since the accident I thought someone was trying to steal it. Even if I had remembered about my gift I would not been able to identify the tells of the person who was trying to hide something, being blind and all. All I knew was that people would get tense when I was around, and with no memories of my past I could not be sure that I was not to blame: that they didn't trust me because I was not trustworthy."

The pain that Apollo heard in Thalassa's voice that cut into his core was the reason why he hadn't wanted to say anything, and now that he caved in he was feeling incredibly guilty for doing so. He could tell that it was not just his imagination, as Athena alternated between gazing sympathetically at Thalassa and glaring daggers at him as Thalassa continued, "The only one who I never felt tense up when I was around was Machi. In fact I felt like the tension in him went away the moment he came near me, as if he had been worrying about me and was relieved to see that I was okay. He never hesitated to take my hand, to guide me to the stage and make it seem as though I was leading him to the piano, and the easy and carefree way we would talk with one another, the warmth I heard in his words as he described the things around us, made me imagine that the darkness surrounding my past was concealing the fact that he was my son. You know that it was he who told me about the operation that could restore my sight? Of course I told him that we could never afford it, though that was an excuse for me to face my fears about my unknown past, but he convinced me to go on tour to earn the money. I trusted him above all others, and in the end he wound up involved in that case. To this day I don't understand why he would risk everything, our relationship together and even his own life, just to get some money from smuggling a Borginian Cocoon to this country ."

"Maybe...he was doing for you, Mom?" Trucy suggested.

"Me?" Thalassa asked in surprise, "Whatever do you mean?

"That eye operation was supposed to be expensive, right?" Trucy explained, "perhaps he believed that the only way you could go through with it, and still have enough left over to live together on, would be for him to earn the money in that way."

"But I still don't understand why he would do this," Thalassa admitted, "Why would he keep this from me, even after he admitted to the crime itself?"

"Could it be that he was afraid too?" Athena guessed.

"Afraid?" Thalassa asked, "What, he thought I might turn him in?"

"I don't think so, though the fear of getting caught might have been a factor," Athena explained, "Machi was an orphan until the day he met you, right? It could be that he had come to think of you as a mother just as you had thought of him as a son. However, that relationship had been established with you being dependent on him guiding you around. It could be that he was afraid that if you could see and didn't need his eyes anymore that you'd leave him alone again. Also, just as you were afraid of what your lost memories might show you, so too was Machi afraid that those same memories might take you away from him. However, if he was the one who came up with the money for your operation, then you might have felt grateful enough to him that you would permit him to continue living with you, that you would think of him as your hero and love him as your son."

"I'm sure Athena's right, Mom," Trucy agreed, "Also there's the fact that Machi knows that cocoon smuggling is wrong, even though he didn't know why. Maybe he was afraid that if you found out what he did to get the money that you would reject him, and that's why he went to such extremes to hide his crime."

Thalassa last out a forlorn sigh as she said, "You girls might be right, but we might never know now."

"Why?" Trucy asked her, concerned, "Haven't you been to see him?"

"I couldn't. I was afraid that I went to visit him the Machi I saw would be different than the kind young man I always saw in my mind's eye," Thalassa admitted in a heavy voice, then she turned back to Apollo and continued, "At the least I'd like to avoid making the same mistakes with you kids. I know that I have made a number of mistakes already, the least of which was not trusting you when it mattered the most, but I hope you can understand that the person I was back then is not the one who is here now and forgive me. Please, Apollo, could you please give me another chance?"

Looking into her pleading eyes, so much like Trucy's and not unlike those of any of the clients he's ever defended, how could he come up with another answer? "Of course I can?" Apollo told her with a smile.

"Really?" Thalassa asked him, practically holding her breath.

"Really," Apollo assured her, "One of the main reasons I became a defense attorney is to give a second chance to those who have none otherwise. If I can believe in those that others have already decided are guilty, then I certainly can be open minded about my own mother."

The tears Thalassa had been holding back found their release then, streaming down her face as she held her hand over her heart and said with a watery smile, "Thank you, Apollo." Of course he could barely hear her as Trucy had rushed him at that moment, crushing him in a hug and bouncing on the balls of her feet as she chanted "Thank you!" over and over loudly practically into his ear. Still, Thalassa had stood there and watched the two of them silently until Trucy had reached over and pulled her over to them and threw her arm around her as well, with an openly sobbing Athena joining them in the group hug just a moment later.

 _Okay, this is getting awkward,_ Apollo thought to himself, although he didn't find this too unpleasant, it reminding him somewhat of the moments following after he and Nahyuta had been rescued from the raging river by Drake, back when he actually felt like a part of a family. Fortunately he was spared finding a way to get out of this awkward position when his phone started ringing in his pocket.

"Is that my song, the Guitar's Serenade?" Thalassa asked in confusion.

"Yeah. I kinda...set it as my ringtone," Apollo admitted, his face flushed with embarrassment, then he looked at the display and announced, "It's Mr. Wright."

"It is, is it?" Thalassa asked in confirmation, the smile melting off her face as she held out her hand and said, "May I?" After he handed his phone over, Thalassa looked at it for a moment as she asked him, "Which one of these is for 'speakerphone'?"

When Apollo reached over and touched the speakerphone icon the voice of Phoenix Wright rang out around the defendant's lobby, frantically asking "Apollo, is that you!? How's Trucy!? Did you get a 'not guilty' verdict?"

"Trucy is all right, Wright," Thalassa told Phoenix, and even though he wasn't the target of it Apollo still found himself flinching away from the edge in her voice as she continued, "as is your office, thanks to Apollo and Athena."

"L-Lemiroir?" Phoenix replied, and Apollo could hear the surprise in his voice, "What are you doing there?"

"My daughter was in trouble, where else would I be? And you know full well that it's 'Thalassa'." Thalassa retorted, "The question that you should be asking yourself, however, is, 'Why was Trucy in trouble in the first place?' I know that you have only had your badge back for a couple of years, but you've had several years of experience before that. So please tell me: What kind of lawyer doesn't teach his own daughter to request a copy of a contract immediately after signing it?"

"Oh, um, that is, I didn't think..." Apollo heard Phoenix floundering.

"If Apollo hadn't been here to clean up your mess then things would have ended up much worse for Trucy, and I would have to have helped Trucy pull a vanishing act, just as she did for her father several years ago," Thalassa reprimanded him, "Which reminds me, you were his lawyer on that case, weren't you?"

"Yeah, about that...I'm truly sorry," Phoenix apologized, sounding very uncomfortable, "I just never thought to..."

"Actually I am the one who is sorry, Ms. Gram-...Mom," Apollo interrupted, and even though the word felt foreign on his tongue Apollo felt he owed his mother this much, "I was there when Trucy signed that contract, and I didn't think to ask her to request a copy or even allow me to review it. Also it was my mentor at the time, Defense Attorney Gavin, who was responsible for planting the forged evidence on Mr. Wright and setting up the trap that required Mr. Wright to use it, leading him to lose his badge and your husband's case. I'm truly sorry."

"I'm sorry too, Ms. Gramarye," Athena added with her head bowed in remorse, "I didn't think to have Trucy request a copy of the contract either, and I was there with Apollo. I'm just as responsible for what happened, please forgive me."

Thalassa looked back and forth between him and Athena, then the anger dissolved from her eyes and she turned back to the phone and said consentingly, "At least Trucy is alright, her name cleared. That's the most important thing."

"I can't agree with you more, Thalassa," Phoenix said gratefully, "and I owe it all to you, Apollo. I can't possibly thank you enough! Now I know I can trust you to hold down the fort anytime."

"M-me? Really?" Apollo asked, caught off guard by this statement.

"Yes, you. You're a real, full-fledged lawyer now in my eyes!" Phoenix gushed.

"A f-full-fledged lawyer?" Apollo repeated, stunned and finding it difficult to wrap his head around this or anything else that happened today.

"Thank goodness you were there to take care of everything," Phoenix continued, sounding as though he was on the verge of tears, "And thank YOU, Apollo."

"N-No need to go that far, boss..." Apollo replied, embarrassed, and he thought silently to him, _Especially not in front of everyone..._

"...Oh and by the way, Apollo, I won't be able to make it to tomorrow's show, so I was hoping you could go."

"You can't?" Thalassa asked, somewhat confused, "Just where are you, Mr. Wright?"

"I guess Apollo hadn't been able to tell you yet, Thalassa," Phoenix replied, "I came here to the kingdom of Khurai'in because my friend Maya Fey has just about finished with her training to become the the head of the Kurain Channeling Technique back home. I intended to get here a little later, as her training is supposed to not be complete for a couple more days, but the way our conversation had cut off so suddenly made me think that Maya was in trouble, so..."

"I see," Thalassa said thoughtfully, "Khura'in, huh? I would be careful while you're down there, and try to reign in that impulse of yours of flashing your badge to every person you meet. They don't really like defense attorneys in that place, you see."

"Yeah, I kinda found that out already," Phoenix told her, and Apollo imagined him with a sheepish smile on his face as he said it, "It certainly made proving Ahlbi Ur'gaid's innocence much more difficult than I would have thought it would be."

"You actually defended someone in Khurai'in and not only survived but was successful?" Thalassa asked, surprised, "I might have to reassess your capabilities as a lawyer."

"Uh, thanks?" Phoenix responded, "At any rate I don't have enough to get a second round-trip ticket, Apollo, so could you please go to Trucy's show for me tomorrow? And record it if you can: I'm sure that Maya will want to see it as much as I do."

"Of course!" Apollo answered enthusiastically, "I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Phoenix said gratefully, "Well, I'll see you soon." Then, with a beep, the call disconnected.

For a moment Apollo could only stand there in wonder, Phoenix's words of praise still ringing in his ears. Then Trucy waved her hand before his face, getting his attention. "Huh? What is it, Trucy?"

"I was just saying that Daddy asked you to come to tomorrow's show," Trucy said with a sly smile, "As my assistant, right?"

"Um, no," Apollo told her kindly yet firmly, "He just asked me to cheer you on, and to record it for him and Maya if possible."

"Then..." Trucy started to say before Apollo interrupted, "No, Trucy. It doesn't matter how many times you 'convince' me to help you practice, nor how often you trick me into filling in for a 'random' volunteer from the audience, the truth remains that I am no magician...uh, no offense, Mom..."

"None taken, Apollo," Thalassa acknowledged with a smile and a nod before Apollo continued, "...and the fact that both your mom and mine just happens to be Thalassa Gramarye of Troupe Gramarye doesn't change that I'm just a lawyer, plain and simple."

"I was just going to say that I would save you the best seat in the house," Trucy told him with her usual smile.

"Oh, really?" Apollo asked her, surprised that she gave in so easily.

"Of course," Trucy confirmed, "You're my big bro, after all, and we want Daddy and miss Maya to have a good view of the show to watch when they get back home."

Although he found himself wanting to roll his eyes at the "big bro" part, Apollo found himself unable to argue with Trucy's logic. "Well, since you put it that way..."

"Good! Then it's settled!" Trucy chimed in with a smile, one which he seen a million times and knew better than to trust.

"Great! And on that note I'm starving, so let's go to Mr. Eldoon's to celebrate Trucy's freedom!"

 _I think I'd rather go eat at the Kitaki's,_ Apollo thought to himself, recalling how the "former" gangster family had opened a pie shop/restaurant in order to become "legitimate" business people (though Apollo still didn't quite buy it, and even though they still terrified him it was still better than Eldoon's "cuisine"). Apollo then saw Athena turn to Thalassa and ask, "You wanna come along, Ms. Gramarye?"

"Absolutely! I just reunited with my family, I'm not quite ready for this day to end just yet," Thalassa answered smiling, "Oh! Before we go, Trucy, I have something I need to give to you."

Trucy looked confused as Thalassa placed the glittering gift in her outstretched hands, asking, "Your bracelet, Mom?"

"It's your bracelet now," Thalassa explained, "I always intended to pass it down to you when you came of age, though my accident delayed when that would have happened, and you'll need it to perform the tricks I'll be teaching you. Of course I'll need to borrow it back from time to time in order to demonstrate those tricks to you, but for all intents and purposes it's yours now."

"This is wonderful, Mom! Thank you!" Trucy squealed as she hugged her mom.

"I don't quite understand something," Athena admitted, "You said that you intended to give Trucy that bracelet when she 'came of age', but I remember Apollo saying that he's had his bracelet forever. What's up with that?"

"That's...a long and painful tale," Thalassa said haltingly, "one that I suppose I'll have to tell one day, but the short version is that I had an appointment to keep during a trip I took with Apollo and his father, so I gave that bracelet to Apollo to play with while his dad took him to a special performance that night. It was during that brief separation that I lost my husband and, so I thought, Apollo and that bracelet forever."

 _The night of Queen Amara's assassination,_ Apollo thought to himself, recalling how Drake told him that he had been killed in the fire set to kill the Queen, but because nobody knew his true name his spirit couldn't be channeled. "I'd like to hear about it one day, to know just what kind of man my father was," Apollo told Thalassa, placing a sympathetic hand on her shoulder, "and while we won't be able to go today or tomorrow, if you want to go see Machi after that I will gladly go with you."

"You would do that?" Thalassa asked, surprised.

"Of course," Apollo acknowledged, "Machi was my client, and you are my mother. I will support you both for as long as you will let me."

"Not without me, you're not!" Trucy told them, "Machi's practically family after all, might as well make it official!"

"I think I'll go along with you guys too," Athena offered, "I'd like to meet this kid, after all, and with everything that I understand that he has went through he could possibly use some emotional therapy."

Thalassa's tears started to flow again as she said, "You guys are all great! Thank you so much!"

Apollo couldn't help but return Thalassa's smile, then when he heard a stomach growling he chuckled as Trucy said, "well I don't know about you guys, but I haven't had anything but crappy prison food since yesterday, so let's hurry up and get out of here."

"Yeah, let's," Apollo agreed with a smile. Back when this ordeal began Apollo would have never guessed that things would end in quite this way, but this is one surprise turnaround that Apollo heartily welcomed. This new-found family dynamic was already making things more fun, and he only saw things getting better from here on out.

* * *

 **April 29**

 **Penrose Theatre - Stage**

 **"OBJECTION!"**

 _I-I should've known...THAT THIS IS WHAT SHE MEANT!_ Apollo thought to himself, his mind buzzing with panic. On one side of the stage stood Trucy and Bonny (or was it Betty, he couldn't tell). On the other, dressed in white and standing beside Mr. Hat, was Thalassa Gramarye. Apparently Trucy had penned the script so as that the dreaded Red Queen was in fact the beloved White Queen under a terrible enchantment which Magical Girl Trucy Wright had broken just moments ago. And the villain who had cast that spell and manipulated the events from behind the scenes until he was captured and locked up in the coffin in the middle of the stage just now? That would be the scheming Knave of Hearts, as played by...wait for it...Apollo Justice! How on Earth did he allow himself to get talked into doing this!?

Apparently, even without her bracelet, his mom was able to pick up on his fear and anxiety, as she smiled down at him and whispered low enough that the crowd couldn't hear her over their own cheers and roars, "Thank you for obliging Trucy like this. You truly are a good older brother to her."

Apollo tried to return her smile, but as tense as he was the best he could manage was a cringe and a nervous chuckle.

Trucy, in the meantime, was busy playing to the crowd, saying, "Magical Girl Trucy Wright will now perform her greatest illusion yet! There are no tricks or gimmicks here, ladies and gentlemen! This is REAL magic!"

"Wait a minute! You're kidding, right!?" Apollo could not help himself asking, fear making his voice somewhat loud, "There IS a trick or gimmick, right? I'm too young to die!"

"Now, Mr. Hat, you know what to do!" Trucy called over to him, paying no heed to Apollo whatsoever, "Use that sword of yours and banish darkness from this land FOREVER!"

As Apollo's cries of fear drowned out even those of the crowd, Apollo thought to himself _, Why can't I have a normal family just like everyone else!?_


End file.
